Garment



H. BREWSTER Aug. 6, 1935.

GARMENT Filed July lO, 1954 i 9-1 lNvaN-roR A ORN EYS Patented ug. 6,1935 PATENT OFFICE GARMENT Henry Brewster, Long Beach, N. Y.

Application `Iuly 10, 1934, Serial No. 734,491

9 (Jlaims` (Cl. 2-112) The presen-t invention has its preferredapplication in two-piece garments, the elements of which are connectedtogether at the waistband, and while the invention has a preferredapplicability to two-piece suits, it has a wider range or utility forblouses, shirts, pajamas, overalls, and other combination garments forchild or adult wear.

In the prior application, Serial No. 686,341, filed VAugust 23, 1933, agarment is provided in which excessive strain at the bottoms or at thewaistband attachment means is effectively relieved in the absence ofelastic, with return of material to normal shape, by the provision ofextra material arranged in the form of downwardly opening V-shapedpockets adjacent `the lower back portion of the blouse. n

An object of the present invention is to provide a garment of the abovetype in which this excessive strain at the bottoms or at the waistbandattachments is effectively relieved" by the utilization of elastic meanswithout binding at the crotch, or snapping off of the buttons, orripping of the buttonholes, binding strain on the wearer lbeing thuseliminated.

Another object is to provide a garment of the above type in which the.strain relieving elastic means is incorporated as a unitary part eitherof' the upper or blouse element, or of the nether or pants or skirtelement, and in which the garment is applied without the need for`special buttons, or clasps, or other means to supplement thosecustomary, and without the need for any manipulation other than usedwith garments of conventional character.'`

Another object is to provide a garment of the above type, includingelasticstrain relief means having advantages vabove described at amanufacturing cost of the same or in excess of that of conventionalgarments.

Other objects will be in part obvious and n part pointed' outhereinafter.

The present invention will be particularly describedY in connection witha childs garment of the character described in which` the elastic meansis utilized to carry the buttons or buttonhole or other connectionsbetween the body and leg covering elements.

The elastic means may be separately connected to and/or carry eachbutton and/or ea-ch but- L, tonhole Yor other fastening means or ifdesired,

theh bnttonhole may be formed by an elastic loop suitabhr attached tothe upper or nether garment, as may be desired.

The elastic means may take the form" of' cords or bands of elasticvmaterial, and is preferably connected to the upper and/or nethergarments in such a manner that a most satisfactory connection willresult.

The preferred construction for the attachment 5 of the elastic strips orcords to the garment, resides in the provision of a pleat on either orboth of the upper and nether garments, said pleats facing the oppositegarment, the attached ends of the elastic means being securely fastened'in- 10 side of said pleats.

In the accompanying drawing in which are shown one or more of thevarious possible embodiments of the present invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the garment as l applied to the wearer,shown partly undone;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view indicating the functioning of the strain'relief feature under the bending movement of the wearer;

Fig. 3 is a nether view of the upper garment 20 with the nether garmentyunattached;

Figs. 4 and 5 are transverse sectional views onV a larger scale, takenupon the lines 4 4 and 545 of Fig. 3.;

Fig. 6 is. a transverse sectional view upon a 25 larger scale, takenupon the lines 6--6 of Fig. 5.;

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view upon a. larger scale, taken uponthe line 1--1 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is an inside-out View of another construction;

i Fig. 9 is. a transverse sectional view upon the line 9-3 of Fig. 8upon a slightly enlarged scale;

Fig. 1.0v is anoutsde-view of the garment. illustrating` an elasticattachment of Fig'. 8;

Figs. 1.1 and I2v illustrate another embodiment, Fig. 11 being a frontview and Fig. 12 being a side sectional view upon line 1 2-[2 of I1;

Fig. 13 shows ay button-carrying elasticA strip oi special constructionin enlarged perspective 4o v1ew.

Referring now to the drawing,A there is shown ai boyfs suit including awaist or blouse elemen A and a pants elementB. Y

The body of the. blouse element is of generally' t5 conventionalconstruction including a iront panel I0., a back panel Il, a collar l2,a Waist length portion I3 provided withbuttons 14 to which attachment,is made by buttonholes` |.5 in the waistband [6.- of the pants.. A

In the embodiment, shown in Figs. 1- to, '7., the buttons ll at thelower edge of the rear panel of the blouse are not attached` directlythereto but are attached to elastic. strips. (.1, the upper ends ofwhich are held in the reverse pleat I8 l5 formed in the part of the backpanel H above the waist length portion i3.

Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, it will be noted that the elastic tab l issewn between the sides i8 and i9 of the pleat at the lower portion ofthe back panel il by the peak-shaped stitching 2t, which holds theelastic band in place and in addition permits sufcient stretch thereof,when the buttons Hi of the lower part of the elastic strip is attachedto the buttonholes i5 at the top of the pants B.

As shown in Fig. 5, the portion I3 of the back panel il is formed byturning up the lower section 2i of the back panel and providing aninturned edge 22 and then tacking the said inturned edge to the mainsection i3, as indicated at 23. It will be noted that the elastic stripvl? is devoid of attachment to the sections I8, i9, I3 and El, except forthe triangular peak stitching 2Q.

As shown in Fig. 4 in the interstices between the button attachmentsiii, the stitching 23 and 2:2 suffices to form a satisfactory fasteningfor -the lower portion of the garment.

The but'tonhole i5 of the section i6 is shown attached to the button hlon elastic "strip l? in Fig. '7.

' The strip it is formed of the two layers'of material and 2S, whichhave inturned edges 2 and 23, which are all bound together by thestitching 2Q. The buttons iii, as shown,'rnay be conveniently insertedin the buttonholes 5 without special manipulation.

' ln operation, as illustrated upon Fig. 2, upon bending movement of thebody, the elastic strip ilwiil elongate, permitting a greater separationbetween the strip i6 of the'pant's B and the strip i3 of the bodysection A. v

As soon as the body is again elevated to erect position, as shown inFig. l, the elastic will immediately draw the strip i6 and i3 togetherback to their normal position, as illustrated in lFig. l. v

The triangular peak stitching Edwill assure that this elongation of theelastic strip l? will -be effected without undue'stress upon the garmentA- B and without any substantial tendency to rip the stitching 23 and 26holding the pleat together. Y

' Moreover, it will be noticed that the end of the elastic strip il isentirely concealed within the pleat formed between the fabric layers iiiand i9 and'that an iron may be conveniently applied to both the frontside and the backside of the fabric where it contains the` strip il. Thestrip l1 does ynot touch the iron, nor is there any liability of itVbeing ripped out of position by the ironing operation.

It vis to be understood, of course, that the Aelastic connections Il maybe provided either upon the pants section B or upon the blouse sectionA, `and if desired, a double elastic effect may be obtained by alsoVproviding elastic loops or cords to cooperate with button carryingelastic strips il either attached to the pant sections or to the shirtsection, as for eiiample, shown in Figs-1l and 12.

As shown in Figs. ll and l2, the elastic loops vlill are vheld by thestitching 4l and 42 and by the bar tack i3 between the fabric layers iiiand 45. The piece of fabric which is formed of the sectionsv di?. and i5is sewn at i6 and l to the main fabric 43 which may form a part of theblouse A or of the trousers B.

It is noted here again'in Figs. 11 and 12 that the attachment of theelastic strip to the fabric is covered and protected on both sides byfabric layers QS and lili on one side and 35 on the other so as to givea finished appearance to the garment and so as to permit ready ironingthereof.

ln the embodiment of Figs. 8, 9 and 10, the interior of the fabric isprovided with a vertical fabric strip tu and with a horizontal fabricstrip 6 l, the horizontal fabric strip iii being connected by theelastic strip 62 to the button carrying pleat S3. In this constructionthe buttons @d are sewn directly to the'fabric, as shown in thecopending application, Serial No. 686,341, filed August 23, 1933. Thestrain en the band iii is taken up both by the elastic 62 and by theopening of the pockets 55 formed by the peak stitching 6E above eachbutton.

As in the copending application, these peak pockets are open and devoidof stitching at their bottom portions at @l so as to permit an expansionor slight pulling out of the fabric-in the pocket to take up the bendingmovements, as already described, as in connection with Fig. 2. .Uponstraightening .uptheA pockets 65 will quickly return to their normalclosed position, as shownl in Figs. 8 and l0.

Instead of sewing the buttons iii directly to the elastic strip il, asindicated in Fig. 5, the outwardly projecting ends of the rubber stripsli may be covered by the piece of fabric "iii, which is preferablyattached thereto by the transverse stitching 'l2 to permit moreelasticity. The button iii may then be sewed to the elastic stripri'icovered by the fabric.

it is clear in all the embodiments thus described that the pants arebuttoned to the blouse in the usual manner without the need for specialmanipulation and that the pants are held upwith the same security as inconventional constructions. rEhe garment involves the use of but aslightly added width of material and but a negligible additicn to thecost of manufacture.

it is of course apparent that the invention is not limited in itsapplicability to the use of a button fastener, but its widerapplicability, where a hook, snap, pinch, or other fasteners areemployed in lieu of buttons.

The term .waist-length is used in the specification and claims, refersto that portion of the garment at or near the waist of the wearer atwhich tearing strain on the buttons, buttonholes, or other fastenersthereatwould occur in the absence ci my invention. v

It will thus be seen ythat there is herein described article in whichthe several features of this invention are embodied, and which articlein its action attains the various objects ofl the invention and is wellsuited to meet the requirements of practical use.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the `above description or .shown in the accompanyingdrawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in 'a limitingsense.

' What is claimed is:

1. A fabric body covering, the fabricof said covering being reverselyfolded at the bottom rear portion thereof, downwardly depending elasticstrips sewed into said fold 'and buttons sewedon the bottom of saidstrips, the three fabric layers of said reversely foldedl Vportion beingsewn together at vthe bottom edge of said fold, except at '15.

the place of insertion and attachment of said elastic strips between theinner two layers of said reverse fold, the upper ends of said stripsbeing inserted between said inner layers to substantially the maximumdepth of the fold and projecting just sumciently below said fold tocarry said buttons, and said elastic strips being sewed together withthe three fabric layers of the reverse fold substantially above the lineof sewing at the bottom of said fold, whereby a pocket is formed foreach of said elastic strips.

2. A fabric body covering, the fabric of said covering being reverselyfolded at the bottom rear portion thereof, downwardly depending elasticstrips sewed into said fold and buttons sewed on the bottom of saidstrips, said strips being attached in said fold by triangular peakedstitching, said triangular peaked stitching attaching said strips to thethree fabric layers of the reverse fold substantially above the bottomof the fold and between the inner two layers of said reverse fold, theupper ends of said strips being inserted between said inner layers tosubstantially the maximum depth of the fold and projecting justsufficiently below said fold to carry said buttons.

3. An elastic attachment for garments consisting of three cloth pliesformed by reverse folding of a fabric, a series of elastic stripsinserted in said reverse folding, said plies and strips being sewntogether by `stitching along the lower edge of said fold between thestrips, which stitching at the strips is triangularly peaked up to theupper edge of said fold to extend across the strips so that only theupper corners ci the elastic strips are sewn into position between thefold by the triangular stitching, whereby substantially the full lengthof the portion of said elastic strip sewn inside of said fold will beavailable for stretching.

4. A concealed elastic connection particularly adapted for the rear ofthe waists of childrens outer-garments to enable detachable connectionto pants, consisting of a reverse fabric fold at the lower edge of thewaist garment, the innermost portion of ysaid fold opening toward thepants garment and a plurality of spaced elastic strips extending intosaid fold for substantially the entire depth thereof and extending belowthe bottom of said fold just sufficiently to receive a fastener elementto be connected to a cooperating fastener element on the pants, saidelastic strips being connected into said fold by peaked sewing obliquelyextending across their corner portions, whereby substantially the fulllength of said elastic strips will be available for stretching.

5. A childs waist including concealed spaced elastic connection for thepants which will permit stretching apart of the waist and pants uponforward bending at the rear of the waist and which assure ready returnwithout deformation of the garments, the rear of the waist beingprovided with a reverse fold slightly above the position of the top ofthe pants, a plurality of spaced vertical elastic strips inserted intothe inner part of said fold substantially the full depth thereof, eachof said strips being held in said fold by oblique stitching across theupper corners thereof adjacent the top of the fold, whereby the fulllength of said .strips within said fold is substantially available forstitching.

6. A concealed elastic connection particularly adapted to connect thewaists of childrens outergarments to the pants thereof consisting of afabric fold at the lower edge of the waist garment, said fold openingtoward the pants and a plurality of spaced elastic strips extending intosaid fold for substantially the entire depth thereof and extending belowthe bottom of said fold `ment proper, the fabric of said garment at therear portion thereof being reversely folded to afford a projectingwaist-length portion, elastic strips stitched into said fold, triangularstitchl ing being utilized to hold said elastic strips in position, saidtriangular stitching vserving to connect the corners of said strip tothe three fabric layers of the reverse fold substantially above thebottom of the fold and between the inner two layers of said reversefold, the upper ends of said strips being inserted between said innerlayers to substantially the maximum depth of the fold and projectingjust sufciently below said fold to carry said buttons, substantially theentire median axial portions of said strips being free of stitching topermit enhanced elasticity.

8. A childs waist wholly of woven substantially non-elastic fabric, thefabric of said waist being reversely folded at the rear portion thereof,to determine three superposed plies, from the innermost of which extendsa waist-length portion, elastic strips depending downwardly from betweenthe two innermost of said plies, buttons attached to said strips, linesof stitching at the bottom of the reverse fold connecting the threeplies at the regions between the strips and additional lines ofstitching above the bottom of the fold connecting the strips between thetwo innermost plies and affording pockets opening toward the respectivebuttons, the major length of said elastic strips within said fold beingfree to elongate or contract giving enhanced elasticity.

9. A childs waist, said fabric being reversely folded along a horizontalfold at the rear portion thereof, determining three superposed plies,the material projecting downwardly in a single ply from the innermost ofthe three plies, reinforced elastic tapes secured to said plies betweenthe innermost two plies, buttons attached to said tapes, the three pliesbeing stitched together at the bottom of the reverse fold between thetapes and additional lines of stitching through the three plies abovethe bottom of the fold connecting the tapes between the two innermostplies and affording pockets opening toward the respective buttons, themajor length of the velastic within said pockets being available forstretching and contraction.

HENRY BREWSTER.

